Editing Pear (section)

== Cultivation ==
[[File:Pear tree in Hamedan Iran.jpg|thumb|Pear tree]]
According to Pear Bureau Northwest, about 3,000 known varieties of pears are grown worldwide.<ref name=":7">{{cite web |url=http://usapears.com/Recipes%20And%20Lifestyle/Now%20Serving/Pears%20and%20Varieties.aspx |title=Pear Varieties |publisher=Usapears.com |access-date=9 August 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140625092733/http://usapears.com/Recipes%20And%20Lifestyle/Now%20Serving/Pears%20and%20Varieties.aspx |archive-date=25 June 2014 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The pear is normally propagated by [[grafting]] a selected variety onto a [[rootstock]], which may be of a pear or [[quince]] variety. Quince rootstocks produce smaller trees, which is often desirable in commercial orchards or domestic gardens. For new varieties the flowers can be [[Cross-breeding|cross-bred]] to preserve or combine desirable traits. The fruit of the pear is produced on spurs, which appear on shoots more than one year old.<ref>RHS Fruit, Harry Baker, {{ISBN|1-85732-905-8}}, pp100-101.</ref>

There are four species which are primarily grown for edible fruit production: the [[European pear]] ''Pyrus communis'' subsp. ''communis'' cultivated mainly in Europe and North America, the Chinese white pear (''bai li'') ''[[Pyrus × bretschneideri]]'', the Chinese pear ''[[Pyrus ussuriensis]]'', and the [[Nashi pear]] ''Pyrus pyrifolia'' (also known as Asian pear or apple pear), which are grown mainly in eastern Asia.<ref name=":0" /> There are thousands of [[cultivar]]s of these three species.<ref name=":7" /> A species grown in western China, ''P. sinkiangensis'', and ''P. pashia'', grown in southern China and south Asia, are also produced to a lesser degree.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":2" />

Other species are used as [[rootstock]]s for European and Asian pears and as [[ornamental plant|ornamental trees]].<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":6" /> Pear wood is close-grained and has been used as a specialized timber for fine furniture and making the blocks for [[woodcut]]s.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Pear {{!}} The Wood Database (Hardwood) |url=https://www.wood-database.com/pear/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240324045244/https://www.wood-database.com/pear/ |archive-date=2024-03-24 |access-date=2024-06-08 |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-06-08 |title=Woodcut |url=https://www3.metmuseum.org/about-the-met/collection-areas/drawings-and-prints/materials-and-techniques/printmaking/woodcut |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240515034144/https://www.metmuseum.org/about-the-met/collection-areas/drawings-and-prints/materials-and-techniques/printmaking/woodcut |archive-date=2024-05-15 |access-date=2024-06-08 |website=The Metropolitan Museum of Art |language=en}}</ref> The Manchurian or Ussurian Pear, ''[[Pyrus ussuriensis]]'' (which produces [[unpalatable]] fruit primarily used for canning) has been crossed with ''Pyrus communis'' to breed hardier pear cultivars.<ref name=":8">{{Citation |last=Bell |first=Richard L. |title=Genetics, Genomics, and Breeding for Fire Blight Resistance in Pear |date=2019 |work=The Pear Genome |series=Compendium of Plant Genomes |pages=243–264 |editor-last=Korban |editor-first=Schuyler S. |url=http://link.springer.com/10.1007/978-3-030-11048-2_13 |access-date=2024-06-08 |place=Cham |publisher=Springer International Publishing |language=en |doi=10.1007/978-3-030-11048-2_13 |isbn=978-3-030-11047-5}}</ref> The Bradford pear (''[[Pyrus calleryana]]'' 'Bradford') is widespread as an ornamental tree in North America, where it has become [[Invasive species|invasive]] in regions.<ref name=":9">{{Cite journal |last1=Culley |first1=Theresa M. |last2=Hardiman |first2=Nicole A. |date=2007-12-01 |title=The Beginning of a New Invasive Plant: A History of the Ornamental Callery Pear in the United States |url=https://doi.org/10.1641/B571108 |journal=BioScience |volume=57 |issue=11 |pages=956–964 |doi=10.1641/b571108 |issn=1525-3244}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Vincent |first=Michael A. |date=2005-03-01 |title=On the Spread and Current Distribution of Pyrus calleryana in the United States |url=https://bioone.org/journals/castanea/volume-70/issue-1/0008-7475_2005_070_0020_OTSACD_2.0.CO_2/On-the-Spread-and-Current-Distribution-of-Pyrus-calleryana-in/10.2179/0008-7475(2005)070[0020:OTSACD]2.0.CO;2.full |journal=Castanea |volume=70 |issue=1 |pages=20–31 |doi=10.2179/0008-7475(2005)070[0020:OTSACD]2.0.CO;2 |issn=0008-7475}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Owen |first=Luke |date=2024-03-27 |title=Bradford Pear: An Invasive Pest |url=https://buncombe.ces.ncsu.edu/2024/03/bradford-pear-an-invasive-pest/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240529184753/https://buncombe.ces.ncsu.edu/2024/03/bradford-pear-an-invasive-pest/ |archive-date=2024-05-29 |access-date=2024-06-08 |website=buncombe.ces.ncsu.edu |language=en}}</ref> It is also used as a blight-resistant rootstock for ''Pyrus communis'' fruit orchards.<ref name=":8" /><ref name=":9" /> The Willow-leaved pear (''[[Pyrus salicifolia]]'') is grown for its silvery leaves, flowers, and its "weeping" form.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=Pyrus salicifolia 'Pendula' - Plant Finder |url=https://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/PlantFinder/PlantFinderDetails.aspx?taxonid=263988&isprofile=0&bt=4 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240608183401/https://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/PlantFinder/PlantFinderDetails.aspx?taxonid=263988&isprofile=0&bt=4 |archive-date=2024-06-08 |access-date=2024-06-08 |website=www.missouribotanicalgarden.org}}</ref>

===Cultivars===
{{Main article|List of pear cultivars}}
The following [[cultivars]] have gained the [[Royal Horticultural Society]]'s [[Award of Garden Merit]]:<ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/pdfs/agm-lists/agm-fruit-and-vegetables.pdf | title = AGM Plants}}</ref>
{{div col|colwidth=15em}}
* 'Beth'<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/46952/Pyrus-communis-Beth(D)/Details|title=RHS Plant Selector Pyrus communis 'Beth' (D) AGM / RHS Gardening |publisher=Apps.rhs.org.uk | access-date = 17 February 2021}}</ref>
* 'Beurré Hardy'<ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/51198/i-Pyrus-communis-i-Beurre-Hardy-(D)/Details
| title = RHS Plantfinder - ''Pyrus communis'' 'Beurré Hardy' | access-date = 23 September 2018}}</ref>
* 'Beurré Superfin'<ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/75640/i-Pyrus-communis-i-Beurre-Superfin-(D)/Details
| title = RHS Plantfinder - ''Pyrus communis'' 'Beurré Superfin' | access-date = 23 September 2018}}</ref>
* 'Concorde'<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/61972/Pyrus-communis-Concorde-(D)/Details |title=RHS Plant Selector Pyrus communis 'Concorde' PBR (D) AGM / RHS Gardening |publisher=Apps.rhs.org.uk | access-date = 17 February 2021}}</ref>
* '[[Conference pear|Conference]]'<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/74814/Pyrus-communis-Conference-(D)/Details |title=RHS Plant Selector Pyrus communis 'Conference' (D) AGM / RHS Gardening |publisher=Apps.rhs.org.uk | access-date = 17 February 2021}}</ref>
* '[[Doyenné du Comice]]'<ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/76945/Pyrus-communis-Doyenne-du-Comice-(D)/Details | title = RHS Plantfinder - ''Pyrus communis'' 'Doyenné du Comice' | access-date = 23 September 2018}}</ref>
* 'Joséphine de Malines'<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/71466/Pyrus-communis-Josephine-de-Malines-(D)/Details |title=RHS Plant Selector Pyrus communis 'Joséphine de Malines' (D) AGM / RHS Gardening |publisher=Apps.rhs.org.uk | access-date = 17 February 2021}}</ref>
{{div col end}}

The purely decorative cultivar ''P. salicifolia'' 'Pendula', with pendulous branches and silvery leaves, has also won the award.<ref>{{cite web
| url = https://www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/91185/i-Pyrus-salicifolia-i-Pendula/Details
| title = RHS Plantfinder - ''Pyrus salicifolia'' 'Pendula' | access-date = 23 September 2018}}</ref>

=== Harvest ===
Summer and autumn [[cultivar]]s of ''Pyrus communis'', being [[climacteric fruits]], are gathered before they are fully ripe, while they are still green, but snap off when lifted.<ref name=":2" /><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Marini |first=Richard P. |date=2009 |title=Growing Pears in Virginia |url=https://vtechworks.lib.vt.edu/server/api/core/bitstreams/3ea7030c-0c21-49ed-80aa-9fa4bbbc3c7f/content |journal=Virginia Cooperative Extension |volume=Publication 422-017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240608184455/https://vtechworks.lib.vt.edu/server/api/core/bitstreams/3ea7030c-0c21-49ed-80aa-9fa4bbbc3c7f/content |archive-date=2024-06-08}}</ref> Certain other pears, including ''Pyrus pyrifolia'' and ''P. × bretschneideri'', have both climacteric and non-climacteric varieties.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Itai |first1=Akihiro |last2=Fujita |first2=Naoko |date=February 2008 |title=Identification of Climacteric and Nonclimacteric Phenotypes of Asian Pear Cultivars by CAPS Analysis of 1-Aminocyclopropane-1-Carboxylate Synthase Genes |url=https://journals.ashs.org/view/journals/hortsci/43/1/article-p119.xml |journal=HortScience |volume=43 |issue=1 |pages=119–121 |doi=10.21273/HORTSCI.43.1.119 |issn=0018-5345|doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |title=The pear genome |date=2019 |publisher=Springer |isbn=978-3-030-11047-5 |editor-last=Korban |editor-first=Schuyler S. |series=Compendium of plant genomes |location=Cham}}</ref>

=== Diseases and pests ===
{{Main article|List of pear diseases|Lepidoptera}}
{| class="wikitable" style="float:right; clear:right; width:14em; text-align:center; margin-right:1em;"
|+Pear production – 2022
|-
! style="background:#ddf;" | Country
! style="background:#ddf;;" |<small>(Millions of<br /> [[tonne]]s)</small>
|-
|{{CHN}}||19.3
|-
|{{USA}}||0.58
|-
|{{ARG}}||0.57
|-
|{{TUR}}||0.55
|-
|{{ITA}}||0.52
|- style="background:#ccc;"
|'''World'''||26.3
|-
| colspan="2" |<small>Source: [[FAOSTAT]]</small><ref name="faostat">{{cite web|url=https://www.fao.org/faostat/en/#data/QCL|publisher=UN Food and Agriculture Organization, Statistics Division|title=Production of pears in 2022, Crops/Regions/World Regions/Production Quantity/Year by picklists|date=2024|access-date=30 March 2024}}</ref>
|}